In charge but out of touch

Alan Wolfe

This week George W Bush made the most chilling statement of his presidency. I am not referring to his widely anticipated speech of January 10, when he issued thinly veiled threats against Iran, as scary as those remarks may be. My concern is what he said the next day when he addressed American troops at Fort Benning, Georgia.

As is his wont, Mr Bush invoked, once again, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. And he then added, in his faux-folksy way, this:

"You know, I knew that right after the attacks, the American psyche being what it is, people would tend to forget the grave threat posed by these people. I knew that. As a matter of fact, I was hoping that would happen so that life would go on. But the fortunate thing for this country is that those who wear the uniform have never forgotten the threat. You understand the stakes."

Here, in a nutshell, is the United States as George W Bush perceives it. No one I know has forgotten September 11; the horror of that day lives on in nightmares, agonizing thoughts of friends lost, horror at the evil of international terrorism, tears at the lives ripped apart. But to the president of the United States, the people he leads are too preoccupied with their personal lives, too frivolous in their daily pursuits, too ignorant of the Satanic forces unleashed in the world, to realize the dangers facing them. They need a strong leader, one who, unlike them, never forgets but spends night and day protecting them against their own ignorance.

Not only are the American people frivolous, the president believes, but he is glad that they are. He was hoping they would forget so that he could remember for them. Some leaders wish the people they lead will to be strong and resolute. Mr Bush wants them weak and complacent. That way, his strength can compensate for their weakness.

Of course Mr Bush is not the only one who remembers; those who wear the uniform can join him as guardians of the people's welfare. He can speak to them, and they can, as they did, applaud him vigorously, because precious knowledge available to no one else is available to them. They are not only America's guardians, they are also its philosophers. Seeing further, they understand better.

In case anyone wonders why George W Bush does not believe himself accountable to election results, the advice of his generals, the views of politicians in Congress, or the collected wise men of the Baker-Hamilton Commission, the speech at Fort Benning offers an explanation. This is not about someone who believes in a strong executive. This is about someone who believes that only the leader can comprehend what the people are incapable of understanding themselves.

September 11 robbed people of their innocence. Now George W Bush has come along to rob them of their memories. When he told Americans in the days after the attacks that they should go out and shop, he meant it. Children like toys; and Americans, so much like children in the president's view, ought to have as many as they want.

It is bad news for Mr Bush, but good news for the United States, that Americans not only remember September 11, but are fully aware of how badly their president has served them since that day. In his speech of January 10 to the nation, Mr Bush indicated that he did not understand Iraq. In his follow-up speech at Fort Benning, he indicated that he did not understand America either.